From Chief to Ball

On the normal world line, the theory of evolution challenged the theory of divine creation and immutability, so there was a big wave in Europe, which was based on European traditional culture.

On the normal world line, once Huxley's natural selection survival of the fittest spread to China, it also aroused the reflection of intellectuals.One is that the secular civilization caused by ignorance of words and power and gods has no foundation for divine creation, and the other is that the overall social environment at that time was on the verge of subjugation of the country and species, and it seemed that it was obviously unsuitable at the time.

Therefore, in this changing world line, the impact of the introduction of the theory of evolution was immediately drawn to social change.

Because the Republic at this time is experiencing a turmoil that has been brewing for ten years. The preparations have created an atmosphere of "all things are connected, the way of heaven can guide everything, and rationality and science can verify society".

Once the theory of evolution at this time point is released, it will inevitably lead the problem to the aspect of social change.

Those young people who spend all day gathering in the living room of the teahouse fell into a kind of empty philosophical speculation, trying to understand many things happening in the society, to find common ground, and to explain the world.

The release of the theory of evolution has also enabled the interest groups who are in urgent need of various "justifiable names" to discover new ways of heaven and earth, and to find new bricks and tiles for the goals they want to achieve, and continue to strengthen them.

The inertia brought about by the self-contained system for a long time will not change immediately because Chen Jian sails around the world. Chinese people's understanding of the world is still based on hundreds of years of inertia, and theories always try to explain the "country" masquerading as the world. ", so the view of the world that existed from the beginning allowed these young people to focus on the world composed of all people, rather than the contradictions of independent species between countries.

Tianxia and the world of nation-states are not the same concept. The originally divided classes and the disintegration of the old order brought about by the advancement of productivity and the acceleration of the gap between the rich and the poor have caused a discussion about people as soon as the theory of evolution appeared.

Chapter 64 New Vocabulary

What surprised Chen Jian the most was not just the discussion itself, but some definitions in the discussion, and one of the words made his jaw drop.

When discussing whether human beings are a species, or whether they have actually been isolated and differentiated by some kind of new species called different classes, the young people in the teahouse and wine shop who are keen to explain the world give a very Novelty, Chen Jian was surprised by the definition.

Lin Xi once vowed to the moon that she would not discuss the social nature of human beings, but only the natural species nature of human beings. These things were also included in the postscript of the first two volumes out of concerns about the possible social impact.

And eight years ago, young people in the capital had begun to accept concepts such as the way of nature and the invisible hand. These things, which were originally just economics, were quickly given a political nature, just like the theory of evolution.

Humans, in the end, transform nature and use the laws of nature to do things that are beneficial to the common development of the entire ethnic group?Or does it completely abide by the so-called invisible hand of the Dao of Heaven and Earth, so that people in the concept of natural history are better?

For human beings, human beings in the concept of the world are social?or natural?Is it the same species?Or are they different species that are reproductively isolated?Is it to let everything go for the sake of natural inertia?Or rely on the way of nature to regulate society?

As far as society is concerned, any theory tries to say that it is for the betterment of people.So, is this person a member of society?Or is it a species of people in the concept of nature?The former needs to protect the weak so that the fate of human beings is closely related to the future and everyone, while the latter needs to survive the fittest to make this species better, stronger, stronger, smarter, etc.

The definition that Chen Jian never expected came from what Lin Xi said a few years ago when he worshiped the moon in Wangbei City.

The woman who studied natural history didn't want people who studied sociality, but she wrote a book that made those young people in teahouses and wine bars who wanted to explain the world create a new vocabulary-socialism.

When Chen Jian heard that young people in teahouses and restaurants, and even those in power in big families all claimed to be socialists one by one overnight, Chen Jian really couldn't laugh or cry.

It's not because of socialism itself, which is divided into many schools, developed all the way from utopia, including feudalism, religion, etc. This word has accompanied mankind since the origin of private ownership, and when scientific socialism came out, various socialist slogans had been shouted for almost 100 years and dreamed about for almost 300 years.

It was because Chen Jian didn’t expect it or was surprised because he didn’t expect this word to be coined because of the theory of evolution. It was neither translated nor instilled by himself, but a natural extension of the concept of natural history.

What's even more ridiculous is that the first to shout out this point of view and regard it as a treasure are those young people in the capital who are keen on empty talk and those power families, and they quickly distorted everything and turned it into a kind of capitalism that competes with nature The doctrine that is the enemy of socialized production and the era of big factories.

When all kinds of socialists shouted about the restoration of guilds, the restoration of patriarchal land, the restoration of permanent tenancy, or a small piece of land for each man farming and women weaving, and moral traditions governing the country, Chen Jian could no longer laugh.

Only then did Chen Jian understand that some things are really a complete system, which cannot be explained clearly in a few words. This requires the accumulation of the foundation of the entire society and a mind that is wise enough to be scientifically critical, and it will take decades. Speculative reading and collation of materials.

Just when Lin Xi's book caused uproar and discussion after another, Lan Qi's booklet finally followed and spread throughout the capital. This time, Lan Qi signed her own name instead of the previous one Those pamphlets are just as anonymous.

She was the first group of people who were deeply indoctrinated and influenced by Chen Jian, so it is inevitable that some traces of the view of history that Chen Jian is most familiar with are exposed between the lines.

The pamphlet neither criticizes nor prophesies, but paints with a kind of icy fact the similarities and differences in the isolated world that sailing ships tie the world together.

Tribes with public ownership, tribes with differentiated private ownership, communal land system with remnants of public ownership, the impact of tools on social forms, changes in land ownership and similarities, the disparity in the status of men and women in the "civilized world" and the equality between men and women in "barbaric tribes" etc.

With the coldest prophecy, many beautiful feelings are written as the most straightforward and bloody and profitable choices. With the help of the theory of evolution, the survival of the fittest species will be transformed into a social form that can survive only by production relations suitable for productivity.

There are no prophecies or declarations in the pamphlet, but everyone who has read the book has a feeling: this day will change.This world is going to be chaotic.

Just like the story described in the pamphlet:

Among hunter-gatherer tribes, any extra person is a huge pressure, so many tribes have cannibalism, living sacrifices, and prisoner sacrifices.When they chased their prey with axes made of stone, they never thought that after they learned farming and breeding, the labor of these prisoners of war who were supposed to be killed would not only feed the prisoners themselves, but also feed the owners of additional prisoners of war .

It's just that the habit of offering sacrifices is still there for one reason or another, such as religion, belief or customary factors, and it will last for hundreds of years without external intervention, but in fact this is not the best choice. , is nothing but the inertia of history.

This is just a small story in a booklet, but people who have read it can read the subtext.

If those tribes who have learned farming and planting maintain their original inertia because of their habits, in fact they no longer have the necessary habits.

So, is there no need for things like guilds, manors binding farmers, and family monopoly franchises that are left in today's republic, but those people in the old days are still struggling, and everyone is still in this kind of state. Inertia?

Is the change that happened in Min County actually a kind of "survival by keeping the way"?And these people who call for a return to the old times or remain unchanged are like the tortoises on the arid island in the Galapagos Islands who do not have a long neck. After all, they will grow taller because they cannot eat drought. Are leaves causing extinction?

Does the socialism discussed by young people in teahouses and restaurants conflict with the large factories, large commercial farms, and large hydraulic workshops in Min County?For the society of people in the social sense, do we really have to go back to the old times?Or is it all just an appearance, or that people haven't fully understood the way of heaven and earth so much that they mistake the past for the future?

Thoughts of one kind or another converge in the capital.Just as Chen Jian introduced mathematics into physics and used experiments in the capital to integrate different disciplines and craftsmen to influence each other, the various trends of thought discussed in the capital also began to influence each other, and more people tried to explain the world.

I want to explain because of troubles; I want to explain because of the intersection of old and new; I want to explain because many things in the old era have been impacted.

Chen Jian understands that this will be the most chaotic era of thinking, just like the Spring and Autumn and Warring States that he is familiar with, it is not a trend of thought brought about by division, but a trend of thought that will inevitably appear during the period of social transformation.

The battle of a hundred schools of thought has the right way and skill, the only difference is that the battle of a hundred schools of thought at this time is in the age when science is in its infancy and makes people feel confident.

The most important Tao requires a more primitive foundation. If the foundation is wrong, many conclusions drawn from deduction will also be wrong, at least there will be problems within the theory.

Therefore, although Chen Jian was caught off guard by this series of unexpected reactions, he did not directly participate in the turmoil caused by these two books after he realized it.

He needs time, more time to lay a material and social foundation for a comprehensive criticism, and this is not the time yet.

However, the tree wants to be quiet but the wind keeps on.

After Lin Xi's book was published and sparked an upsurge, people in the real natural history circle finally made the kind of reaction that Lin Xi hoped for without studying sociality, and quickly dragged Chen Jian into the water .

It seems that it is just a normal discussion and questioning in the academic field of real natural history, but just like Lin Xi’s book triggered the biggest response in sociology, this kind of thing is similar to the background of worshiping science in a certain era. Different tastes were fermented in the next era.

Before Chen Jian came back, someone had done the breathing experiment of plants, and when they agreed with and found that Chen Jian’s theory of the particles of all things was difficult to refute directly, they correctively proposed the concepts of living things and non-living things, and proposed Trying to establish a concept of soul that is insurmountable between life and death, life has special meaning, and transcends matter.

Lin Xi's book has the same problem as Chen Jian's previous theories. The person who proposed to revise Chen Jian's theory of the combination of particles of all things also expressed his respect and recommendation for Lin Xi's views, and said a question .

"Lin Xi's theory reveals why creatures have come to the present and have the present form. She pointed out the way, she described where to go, and I personally believe that this is correct, irrefutable, and internally consistent However, she did not explain the most critical question, where does it come from? Where does life come from? Is there a transcendent soul or life essence that is beyond the particles of matter between life and death? ? Can the primacy of matter explain the insurmountable gap between the animate and the inanimate?"

"If there is something beyond matter, can we think that many of the things we think are reasonable now are just hypotheses? Or in other words, everything related to people should not be called science. The explanation? The pamphlet including what tools and people, production methods, family and marriage, etc., is actually nothing more than penetrating, because the pamphlet is based on the belief that matter is primary—but actually for For living beings, especially those with speculative ability, there is a kind of soul or essence of life that transcends matter."

Chapter 65 New Vocabulary

Scientists who study physics, chemistry and mathematics always have to talk about philosophy and humanities by the way, which can be regarded as a distinctive feature of this era.

Science itself originated from philosophy, and the world at this time has just begun to be rationally recognized, and people have not yet discovered the infinite mysteries and boundlessness of these science and engineering disciplines, and in such an era of alternating old and new, an experience and verification will replace In the era of speculation and taking it for granted, it is a matter of course for this era to appear such people who seem to be doing nothing.

To put it better, this can be called an era when top scholars are trying to be all-rounders. Until one day these people discover that the original world is far more magnificent and mysterious than previously imagined, they can give up this attempt, and want to To become the top of a certain discipline must spend decades delving into the foundation left by the predecessors.

The same is true for this scholar who wants to overthrow some of Chen Jian's theories.

After completing the plant respiration experiment, this scholar has become a cutting-edge figure in related disciplines in the capital, and has become a rising star in the advancement of chemistry, agronomy and mathematics since Chen Jian became famous in the academy many years ago. A pretty bright star.

If there is a way, the law does not punish the mind. Whether this person is for fame, or because he does not agree with Chen Jian's worldview, or for other reasons, Chen Jian doesn't care about it, and it's not that he can't use it. to criticize.